It’s become increasingly common in Florida DUI cases for prosecutors to rely heavily on the investigation and testimony of drug recognition experts (DREs). These are police officers who are specially trained to recognize the signs of impairment in drivers who are under the influence of drugs. Last year, the Governors…
Florida state lawmakers are mulling drug crime reform, specifically a series of bill that include provisions allowing judges more discretion for sentences that currently require minimum mandatory sentencing and increases of substance abuse treatment funds. The chances signal a turn away from the hard-line stance so many lawmakers took in…
Multiple drug convictions could be overturned, if a state high court decides the trial court erred in allowing certain evidence to be considered. Although this is an out-of-state case, errors in evidence admission aren’t rare. The question is whether evidence errors ever warrant a reversal. Trial courts do have broad…
A new Florida law signed by Governor Rick Scott takes aim at opioid trafficking and possession, imposing harsher penalties for those convicted of dealing and using pills, heroin, fentanyl and more. The measure, House Bill 477, enacts new mandatory minimum sentences for opioid users and dealers and establishes new bans…
There is no question that we have a major problem with opioid addiction in this country. While many of these cases, including ones where people overdose involve illicit narcotics like heroin, many still involve the use of prescription painkillers like Vicodin, Percocet or OxyContin. In many cases, a person will…
Florida state senators in the Criminal Justice Committee are weighing a measure that would decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana in the Sunshine State. If passed, violators would receive a civil citation instead of facing arrest. Possession of less than one ounce would be considered a first-degree misdemeanor, for…
A number of factors appear to have played a role in lower arrest rates at South Florida’s premier electronic music festival in Miami this year compared to years past. The Miami Herald reports there were a total of 35 arrests over the course of the three-day revelry at Bayfront Park,…
After decades, it seemed there was finally a general bipartisan consensus – even if unspoken by some – that the so-called, “War on Drugs” was a failed one. Formally kicked off and coined in 1971 by President Nixon, it began with a primary focus on drug addiction treatment. However, it…
Marijuana laws are rapidly evolving around the state – including here in Florida, where voters agreed to widen access to medicinal pot. At the same time, four other states were added to the list of those that now allow recreational marijuana use (bringing the total to eight). But while the state…
In criminal cases, scientific evidence is given a significant amount of weight, whether that is DNA evidence or proof of that a certain substance is in fact illegal. However, as we’ve seen in a number of instances across the country in recent years, that evidence is not infallible. One of…